2024-25 EPL Season

[Savant]

I don't have any kind of massive ref conspiracy theory, unlike some Liverpool fans in the past. But I do think Michael Oliver is specifically biased against us based on decisions from multiple games.

This is what I think the difference is. Views are my own.

 

[phisherman]

Haaland threw a ball at Gabriel's head and nothing was said about it.

 

[Brunkmeister]

Haaland threw a ball at Gabriel's head and nothing was said about it.

Oh haven’t you heard? It’s open season on Arsenalplayers. God forbid if they repay though.

 

[phisherman]

They changed the rules on set pieces this season after Arsenal's success last season.

They released a statement on the Oliver threats after the Arsenal game but not when Man U fans threatened him weeks ago.

No bias at all though and every club is treated equally apparently to some here.

 

[KJS14]

This is what I think the difference is. Views are my own.

Maybe combine them:

Man City
Everyone else
Arsenal

Haaland threw a ball at Gabriel's head and nothing was said about it.

Not only that. Man City celebrated a last second equalizer against 10 men at home and talked shit to us with no issues. Arsenal celebrated an absolute battering of Man City where we stepped on their throats, but the celebration police came out in full force.

 

[S E P H]

It's the corruption I have been talking about here. Wenger came in, revolutionised the sport, and broke the English barrier in football, especially for the wave of international players. You can see this as most of Arsenal's best players are foreign blokes. On top of that, Arsenal is easily the most popular team in London, which is the main capital of one of the most eccentric and energised footballing nations on earth. It's not a Mecca like in South America, but it is very close to it. Wenger broke it in England and now we have to suffer the payback from pro-nationalist BREXIT English people who are in high power positions that got their tactics from the FBI/CIA/MI6. I told you lot this before.

 

[Savant]

Maybe combine them:

Man City
Everyone else
Arsenal


Not only that. Man City celebrated a last second equalizer against 10 men at home and talked shit to us with no issues. Arsenal celebrated an absolute battering of Man City where we stepped on their throats, but the celebration police came out in full force.

I wouldn’t combine them. I don’t think Arsenal have it worst. I think every has at worst besides the ones at the top. It’s a Manchester problem. It’s not an Arsenal problem. But when you are going head to head with that, it makes its hard to feel otherwise

The celebration stuff is dumb as hell for everyone. Impossible to draw a sensible line there

 

[koyvoo]

They changed the rules on set pieces this season after Arsenal's success last season.

They released a statement on the Oliver threats after the Arsenal game but not when Man U fans threatened him weeks ago.

No bias at all though and every club is treated equally apparently to some here.

I’m willing to accept that clubs aren’t treated differently. I’d just like to hear a specific reason why this stuff is happening only to Arsenal, in your opinion.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

And there is the point. Unlikeable cause we have something that other clubs wish they had.

If I had to hazard a guess, he's probably referring to attitudes like this.

 

[KJS14]

I’m willing to accept that clubs aren’t treated differently. I’d just like to hear a specific reason why this stuff is happening only to Arsenal, in your opinion.

I don't have a good grasp on all of the intricacies of the English media, but to me it seems like there is media bias against Arsenal (for whatever reason), which then bleeds into decisions made by on-field refs. For example, the media has pushed this "dark arts" narrative this year, which has seen us receive the most yellow cards for time wasting / delaying restart in the league. However, when we actually watch the games we see the same time wasting / delaying restart actions being used against us and often going unpunished.

Now if we want to get into Michael Oliver specifically, then here's the most clear evidence of bias you'll ever see/hear. He reffed our game vs City last year in which he self-admitted to not giving Kovacic a second yellow card because he didn't want to "ruin the game." Mind you that VAR also reviewed his first yellow card tackle for a straight red card, which would have been deserved, but Michael Oliver deemed it a yellow card and then refused to give a second yellow for another tackle 5mins later. Whereas in the game he reffed between us at the Etihad this year, he sent off Trossard for a time wasting / delaying restart second yellow card because Trossard tried to pass a ball to Martinelli half a second after his whistle. So apparently he doesn't mind "ruining the game" when it's at Arsenal's expense.

 

[koyvoo]

But it would have to go deeper than that. If it’s that’s obvious, the FA itself must be aware. They must’ve at heard the complaints.

Can one or two referees actually go rogue to that degree without repercussions?

 

[KJS14]

But it would have to go deeper than that. If it’s that’s obvious, the FA itself must be aware. They must’ve at heard the complaints.

Well they did hear the complaints about the most recent incident (MLS red card), and then PGMOL defended Michael Oliver and criticized Arsenal for instigating fans to threaten him. And then cherry on top, the FA charged Arsenal for players surrounding Michael Oliver after making that terrible decision even though the red card had already been rescinded.

So yes, maybe it does go deeper. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I know for sure Michael Oliver is biased against us and should not be allowed to ref our games.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

A good way to ask yourself if this is believable is how many people are in on it? How many can actually keep a secret.

It’s really nonsense to think there’s a conspiracy against Arsenal

 

[KJS14]

A good way to ask yourself if this is believable is how many people are in on it? How many can actually keep a secret.

It’s really nonsense to think there’s a conspiracy against Arsenal

I mean I'm literally saying that I think it's just Michael Oliver. Michael Oliver is biased against us. Other people don't necessarily have to be in on it, because PGMOL and the other referees are always going to defend their own despite clear evidence.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

I mean I'm literally saying that I think it's just Michael Oliver. Michael Oliver is biased against us. Other people don't necessarily have to be in on it, because PGMOL and the other referees are always going to defend their own despite clear evidence.

That’s different tho.

“Maybe it does go deeper”

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

And there is the point. Unlikeable cause we have something that other clubs wish they had.

No league titles in 20 years? No European trophies ever? No trophies of substance in a half decade of supposedly being one of the best teams on the continent? What do I wish you had

Since Arsenal last won a trophy of import (and not even a top one at that), Chelsea have won a Champion's League, finished in 12th, and are now back in 4th.

Despite Chelsea being a hilarious shitshow trainwreck the last few years, Chelsea have played in 5 cup finals since Arsenal's last one.

Desperate to know what I wish you had!

Also worth going back to the fact that the only person who has been materially policed by the so-called "celebration police" (LOL) is Iliman Ndiaye, which was the point which started this whole debacle

 

[luiginb]

With all my dislike for Arsenal I hope that annoying kid of theirs does the Joe Thornton 4 goal celebration the next time he scores

 

[KJS14]

That’s different tho.

“Maybe it does go deeper”

Poor choice of words from me, but I was replying to someone implying that it must go deeper for there to actually be an issue. I don't think that it does need to go deeper, but the "defending their own" stance from other referees and PGMOL might as well be the same thing for this particular issue.

No league titles in 20 years? No European trophies ever? No trophies of substance in a half decade of supposedly being one of the best teams on the continent? What do I wish you had

Since Arsenal last won a trophy of import (and not even a top one at that), Chelsea have won a Champion's League, finished in 12th, and are now back in 4th.

Despite Chelsea being a hilarious shitshow trainwreck the last few years, Chelsea have played in 5 cup finals since Arsenal's last one.

Desperate to know what I wish you had!

Also worth going back to the fact that the only person who has been materially policed by the so-called "celebration police" (LOL) is Iliman Ndiaye, which was the point which started this whole debacle

All of this coming from the guy that was peddling an "uh oh City gave them an early goal, but this looks exactly like last week where Chelsea blew it to City after that" narrative over the weekend and then shut up once we dominated them unlike your club. It's the same thing you did earlier when I replied with actual examples, but you don't have anything to say besides "there go the Arsenal fans complaining again."

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Poor choice of words from me, but I was replying to someone implying that it must go deeper for there to actually be an issue. I don't think that it does need to go deeper, but the "defending their own" stance from other referees and PGMOL might as well be the same thing for this particular issue.


All of this coming from the guy that was peddling an "uh oh City gave them an early goal, but this looks exactly like last week where Chelsea blew it to City after that" narrative over the weekend and then shut up once we dominated them unlike your club. It's the same thing you did earlier when I replied with actual examples, but you don't have anything to say besides "there go the Arsenal fans complaining again."

Good golly, the desperation for recognition! What do you want, a “Arsenal are a top team who are better than Chelsea right now”? They obviously are! I’ll let you in on a secret: you don’t feel the need to get recognition from media or fans of other teams when you have the recognition of trophies.

I said that during the City game because the script of the first 40 minutes was almost identical. Gimme goal two minutes in, miss golden opportunity for 2-0, City deservedly equalize. No predictive element, just remarking on the strange hypersimilarity. Can the paranoia. You’re a better team and you won convincingly. Unclench.

And I didn’t respond to your itemized grievance list because I simply don’t care! We don’t need to relitigate these monthly! Your colleague Brunky made an unhinged, empirically disprovable statement about one incident, which was what I responded to - that single incident. You can keep the ledger in your desk.

I hope one day you can find joy watching this sport.

 

[KJS14]

Good golly, the desperation for recognition! What do you want, a “Arsenal are a top team who are better than Chelsea right now”? They obviously are! I’ll let you in on a secret: you don’t feel the need to get recognition from media or fans of other teams when you have the recognition of trophies.

I said that during the City game because the script of the first 40 minutes was almost identical. Gimme goal two minutes in, miss golden opportunity for 2-0, City deservedly equalize. No predictive element, just remarking on the strange hypersimilarity. Can the paranoia. You’re a better team and you won convincingly. Unclench.

And I didn’t respond to your itemized grievance list because I simply don’t care! We don’t need to relitigate these monthly! Your colleague Brunky made an unhinged, empirically disprovable statement about one incident, which was what I responded to - that single incident. You can keep the ledger in your desk.

I hope one day you can find joy watching this sport.

I actually find great joy in watching the sport - the game against City was amazing, but today not so much.

You say that we don't need to relitigate anything, but you are the one that implied Arsenal fans act like we are "uniquely oppressed" so clearly you must think that there are countless examples of those same things happening to other teams. Except your only actual contribution is "this guy got booked for celebrating too" and ignoring the rest of the context around the MLS celebration.

I hope one day that you can leave your "we won something more recently than you, so my opinion matters more" argument at home.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

I actually find great joy in watching the sport - the game against City was amazing, but today not so much.

You say that we don't need to relitigate anything, but you are the one that implied Arsenal fans act like we are "uniquely oppressed" so clearly you must think that there are countless examples of those same things happening to other teams. Except your only actual contribution is "this guy got booked for celebrating too" and ignoring the rest of the context around the MLS celebration.

I hope one day that you can leave your "we won something more recently than you, so my opinion matters more" argument at home.

Let’s call it square and grab a pint if you’re ever in Toronto. Do a Soccer board get together and hash out our grievances.

@robertmac43 you in bro